Whic is a better investment: $400 AMD R9 290 vs $400 PS4?

So? I am already pushing 3.5 Ghz+, can hit 4 ghz probably if I wanted to. And your 8GB of ram comment is moot as no game out now requires 8GB of RAM. Regardless it doesn't mean that I won't see "any benefit" like you claim. I will definitely see significant benefit as shown by people who have upgraded to the R9 290\X using their Phenom II.

Then later on when I have the money, I could upgrade to a Steamroller CPU, or an AMD CPU hopefully in the 20 - 22 nm range. If I upgrade now, this will hold me over till then.

Already did that, brought a high end Samsung 60" Plasma to do some 1080P gaming on the big screen. ;)

Nice! Which one

That's abosolutely insane. Since I did the 6950 BIOS flash to 6970, I am definitely thinking about pulling the trigger for the R9 290. If the flashing is successful the R9 290 will still hold it's value even after a year later. I remeber my BIOS flashed HD 6970 was still cheaper than "regualr" HD 6970's even after a year later.

And your "impulse" buy of the R9 290 was definitely an excellent buy. You won't regret it. :)

considering I would also have to replace my motherboard, cpu, and ram to get the most use out of a R9, it isn't really a "400 dollar" option for me.

@ @ronvalencia Hey, were you able to BIOS flash your R9 290 to a R9 290X?

Your thread at HardFORUM as got me excited. If I could save $150 and successfully get a R9 290X on top a BF4 coupon, it's definitely worth it.

I am seriously considering it!

For the UK market, one could buy pre-flashed R9-290_to_R9-290X from http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-014-VX&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1752

I haven't re-flash my R9-290 to R9-290X.

My other 7970's ASIC quality is 81.1 precent and can overclock to 1.1Ghz without a voltage increase.

My decommissioned 7950's ASIC quality is 68 precent and needs voltage increase for 1Ghz operation and it's voltage and amps is higher than my other 7970.

Successful R9-290 to R9-290x is a lottery.

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Sapphire has announced performance boosting BIOS updated for it's existing R9-290.http://www.techpowerup.com/194909/sapphire-releases-performance-boost-for-r9-290.html

@

Samsung PN60F5300 600Hz Plasma

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/samsung-60-class-59-9-10-diag--plasma-1080p-600hz-hdtv/8182045.p?id=1218864995544&skuId=8182045&ref=06&loc=01&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=8182045&extensionType={adtype}:{network}&s_kwcid=PTC!pla!{keyword}!{matchtype}!{adwords_producttargetid}!{network}!{ifmobile:M}!{creative}&kpid=8182045&k_clickid=496a1502-365d-c188-3263-000023f83b0d&gclid=CNSHvo7_-boCFUMV7AodB18AMg

It will do for the price. Got a deal (cheaper than the link) and couldn't pass it up.

Tried ACII, looks gorgeous at 1080P with 8XAA and 16XAF. When you are playing games at large screen as mines, 720P vs 1080P does make a difference.

Nice suggestion BTW, with you suggesting to choose Plasma vs a projector for the best picture quality in my other thread. Eventhough Projector would be larger but the picture quality would be no where near as good. Not to mention I will have some ambient light during the day which will wash out some of the picture quality in a projector.

Good choice. Glad i could help. I havent read any reviews of the F5300, but im glad it's working out. (I have the F8500 same size)

neithers a good investment. the AMD card is loud and will be useless in 2014 when the next line of nvidia cards comes out which are what you should be waiting for and investing in. I was tempted to buy a new video card but waiting for new architecture is smarter. both amd and nvidias cards are power hogs... wait a year and get some real next gen cards.

not sure why you would buy any console now either, just wait till some games come out on them, by then, console will be cheaper and you will actually have some fun games to play on them.

2014 is the year to buy new stuff, be patient

R9 290 cant do anything alone. You gotta dump much more $$$ to build your overpowered rig lol. And PS4 will still get the big games xD

Sorry, R9-290 fully supports DirectX 11.2 (Feature Level 11_1 + Tier 2) and Mantle which similar to PS4's graphics APIs.

The less future complaint GPU is NVIDIA Kepler which doesn't support DirectX 11.2 feature level 11_1 + Tier 2.

From http://www.galaxytech.com/__EN_GB__/Product2/ProductDetail?proID=488

GeForce 780 Ti has "Microsoft DirectX 11.2 API （feature level 11_0)" not with "Microsoft DirectX 11.2 API (feature level 11_1)".

Current AMD GCN fully supports Xbox One's "DirectX 11.X" which is a superset PC DirectX11.2. From http://blogs.windows.com/windows/b/appbuilder/archive/2013/10/14/raising-the-bar-with-direct3d.aspx

"The Xbox One graphics API is “Direct3D 11.x” and the Xbox One hardware provides a superset of Direct3D 11.2 functionality"

"We’re also working with our ISV and IHV partners on future efforts, including bringing the lightweight runtime and tooling capabilities of the Xbox One Direct3D implementation to Windows, and identifying the next generation of advanced 3D graphics technologies"

The next DirectX release would be based from Xbox One's "DirectX11.X" superset and AMD GCN is already runs this "DirectX 11.X" superset.

Microsoft gimped "DirectX 11.X" into PC's DirectX11.2 since Intel and NVIDIA doesn't support DirectX 11.X's superset features.

For $999 Titan or $699 780 Ti USD budget, I can buy year 2013 R9-290 and year 2014 R9-390 (AMD Pirate Islands). My H2-2013 R9-290 purchase fits within my fiscal income tax year (H2-2013 to H1-2014). The next fiscal H2 2014 to H1 2015 year is reset for another purchase.

Nice! You have the really, really nice high end Plasma. Too bad I can't afford your model. Interesting story, I had initially ordered the Samsung 64" inch model the Samsung E533 because I wanted a larger size:

http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-PN64E533-64-Inch-1080p-Plasma/dp/B009ZGEYS4/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1385239949&sr=1-1&keywords=samsung+PN64E533

So, I ordered it online and when it came through the mail it had a huge gash that went through the box and it into the screen. So, the delivery company or whoever ruined a perfectly good brand new Samsung 64" (and if you look at the sticker, those things aren't cheap). It totally freaked me out when I saw it. Then I had to deal with a month long drama of getting my money back (which I finally got this Wednesday, although I have to wait for 5 days because it's waiting to be cleared). Needless to say I said screw it, I am done ordering big ticket items and large things like 60" Plasma's online. Not only you have to wait but it could come damaged through the mail. So I saw deal online and went to my local Best Buy store and they matched the online price of the 60" Samsung Plasma that I saw online and they came to my house and set it up. Didn't have to deal with the hassel of waiting and putting it together, not to mention the fear of having it come damaged. I don't think I will ever order something this huge and expensive online. I think you are better off ordering from your local retail store, especially, if they do price matching.

But it would have been nice to get the 64" but the extra $500 just for 4 more inches at the end I decided is not worth it. Not sure why just adding extra 4" cost's nearly $500 more when going from 50" to 60" isn't $500 more.

No, I don't need to dump much more $$$, I will just overclock my CPU more. I will instantly get boost in frame rates in games I need most like Crysis 3 and Metro Last Night. Then later on, I could shell out the dough to get a Steamroller CPU.

That's interesting @ronvalencia. Didn't realize that there are some retailers in the UK that would sell BIOS flashed R9 290 to R9 290X. I unfortunately don't have access to such retailers as I live in US. So, the only option that I would have to is to order from newegg and preferably get the XFX R9 290 (since they seem to be the one's with high success rate) and hope that it flashes.

@AMD655 Looks like you made a FOOL of yourself once more. More evidence that people with a Phenom II's are upgrading to a AMD R9 290 and getting significant boost in framerates. Straight from newegg of someone who brought a XFX R9 290 with a Phenom II 965 BE clocked at 3.4 GHZ:

Rating: 5/5Amazing Card

Pros: This card is amazing fast. I'm running Far Cry 3 and Batman: Origins @Ultra settings and 1900x1080 and haven't gone under 100 FPS (No OC).

Cons: None so far.

Other Thoughts: AMD Phenom 965 BE@3.4G Asus M479T-D OCZ 4G @1600MHZ XFX R9 290 WD Raptor 300G Antec 1200W PSU Antec 900x2 Case

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150683

This just proves that your are an idiot when it comes to PC hardware. All this talk of getting "no benefit" on a Phenom II using a R9 290 or my PC can't handle a R9 290 is just BS. Doesn't surprise me coming from someone who is "clueless" about PC hardware.